Government Motors has to be politically correct and promote the greenery, professed by its political masters...

Yeah, it's totally because Obama told them to do it and not because it's more energy and cost efficient. To show their independence, they should make the whole thing run on coal and tar, shipped from the furthest reaches of the world. You know, like all those tech giants do! Apple, Google, Microsoft, we all know from reading Ars that these private industry pros never bother with things like energy efficiency or environmental considerations!

'do you need sticky bits on the load balancer, so it hits the same server every time you ask for something in a session' and 'do you need SSL setups?' Some of those things, the tools don't do that yet.

I have a couple of Puppet manifests I'm more than happy to sell him...

I really love that they're using a mechanical solution for power stability.

The technology is {ahem} mature. I bought my first Pillar Uniblock motor/generator in 1985. It's still in service after one bearing change. It's probably due for another. That one uses a much smaller flywheel and a small battery set to keep things turning while the generator fires up. Having mechanical isolation between the utility power and the critical load is truly great stuff.

Of course, I hate to say it, but given that GM runs OnStar, the location-aware service that lets users 'make phone calls' and 'automatically get help in an accident', etc... How much you bet there is at least one "secret room" in this data center?

Question about the Flywheels - I assume they are spinning continuously. If so, what are the mechanical losses (air & surface friction) ? Is this more efficient that battery backup?

The flywheel is probably more efficient than a battery, although the machines I am familiar with used both. Remember that there are losses in charging the battery and more losses when it is discharged. Also, lead-acid batteries are good for about five years, then have to be replaced. That's an expensive proposition and creates a boatload of hazardous waste. With a motor/generator, you change bearings about every 15 years.___________Edit: typo

Question about the Flywheels - I assume they are spinning continuously. If so, what are the mechanical losses (air & surface friction) ? Is this more efficient that battery backup?

Power storage flywheels normally spin in near-vacuum to essentially eliminate losses from air drag. I'm not sure what they're using for bearings -- possibly airfoil bearings -- but you can be sure that frictional losses are kept to a practical minimum.

Much of the efficiency comes because traditional lead-acid battery stacks need to be replaced every 3-8 years, depending on their degree of excess capacity. Like all chemical energy storage cells, their capacity degrades with time and with charge-discharge cycles. LiFePO4 chemistry cells have an expected calendar lifetime around 10 years but aren't yet quite cheap enough or proven enough to replace lead-acid for fixed power backup applications.

I wasn't aware that GM had reversed course from outsourcing (originally to EDS) but I'm happy to see that they have, and are rapidly adopting some modern technologies and techniques (free cooling, datacenter efficiency, open-source analytics like Hadoop) proven by some of the more successful fast-movers in the infotech space.

Also, lead-acid batteries are good for about five years, then have to be replaced. That's an expensive proposition and creates a boatload of hazardous waste.

The industry is quick to remind everyone that recycling is almost ubiquitous for lead-acid batteries, especially for large-scale operations like telecomm or datacenter UPS batteries. Lead is, however, an undesirable substance when you're striving for a LEED certification, and regulations like Europe's ROHS discourage lead.

Also, lead-acid batteries are good for about five years, then have to be replaced. That's an expensive proposition and creates a boatload of hazardous waste.

The industry is quick to remind everyone that recycling is almost ubiquitous for lead-acid batteries, especially for large-scale operations like telecomm or datacenter UPS batteries. Lead is, however, an undesirable substance when you're striving for a LEED certification, and regulations like Europe's ROHS discourage lead.

Yes, the old batteries go back to be recycled. When they're used in quantity, as with a UPS, that's probably 100% in the United States. I don't know how clean the recycling operation is, but it's working with nasty stuff. You're right about lead being discouraged, too.

Government Motors has to be politically correct and promote the greenery, professed by its political masters...

Yeah, it's totally because Obama told them to do it and not because it's more energy and cost efficient. To show their independence, they should make the whole thing run on coal and tar, shipped from the furthest reaches of the world. You know, like all those tech giants do! Apple, Google, Microsoft, we all know from reading Ars that these private industry pros never bother with things like energy efficiency or environmental considerations!

Government Motors has to be politically correct and promote the greenery, professed by its political masters...

Yeah, it's totally because Obama told them to do it and not because it's more energy and cost efficient. To show their independence, they should make the whole thing run on coal and tar, shipped from the furthest reaches of the world. You know, like all those tech giants do! Apple, Google, Microsoft, we all know from reading Ars that these private industry pros never bother with things like energy efficiency or environmental considerations!

Of course, I hate to say it, but given that GM runs OnStar, the location-aware service that lets users 'make phone calls' and 'automatically get help in an accident', etc... How much you bet there is at least one "secret room" in this data center?

Considering that GM's major business for most of the past 40 years or so has been selling financing and insurance, not manufacturing automobiles, I'd be really curious to know what percentage of these servers are just holding financial and actuarial data. Then again a lot of changes have come in recent years... who knows.

I'm gonna look into getting a job with GM in Warren. I live 15 miles away, and the dream around here has always been to work in the auto industry. I hope this makes a dent in the economy around here too, we need it bad.

Of course, I hate to say it, but given that GM runs OnStar, the location-aware service that lets users 'make phone calls' and 'automatically get help in an accident', etc... How much you bet there is at least one "secret room" in this data center?

Considering that GM's major business for most of the past 40 years or so has been selling financing and insurance, not manufacturing automobiles, I'd be really curious to know what percentage of these servers are just holding financial and actuarial data. Then again a lot of changes have come in recent years... who knows.

Question about the Flywheels - I assume they are spinning continuously. If so, what are the mechanical losses (air & surface friction) ? Is this more efficient that battery backup?

Power storage flywheels normally spin in near-vacuum to essentially eliminate losses from air drag. I'm not sure what they're using for bearings -- possibly airfoil bearings -- but you can be sure that frictional losses are kept to a practical minimum..

The stored momentum in the flywheels can turn an emergency generator in order to provide power for up to 15 seconds while the data center's two giant 5,800 horsepower diesel generators come online. There are also two 6,400-gallon diesel fuel tanks—enough for the generators to produce three megawatts of power for up to 48 hours."

The stored momentum in the flywheels can turn an emergency generator in order to provide power for up to 15 seconds while the data center's two giant 5,800 horsepower diesel generators come online. There are also two 6,400-gallon diesel fuel tanks—enough for the generators to produce three megawatts of power for up to 48 hours."

"Pound", "horsepower", "gallon", then MW.

;-)

That's pretty standard US usage. Weight is usually in pounds, internal combustion power is usually measured in horsepower, and fuel is measured in gallons. But electrical power is generally in watts.

Meh, not really impressed. The only relevant question as to green-ness is how much energy does this facility use to delivery how much computing power or storage capacity? Using vendor equipment starts you off in the wrong place because those HP storage arrays (can't tell what they are, maybe P2000's?) are chok-a-block with power-sucking geegaws that nobody really needs. Redundant power is another total waste that nobody really needs in a datacenter of this scale. Is anyone really trying to make sure that every single one of 2500+ machines is continuously in service? Or course not.

Oh also "servers will adjust their current draw based on load"? No shit, eh? A busy server draws more current? That's the kind of fact-finding that only Ars can bring us.

It's a perfectly fine solution - flywheels, with their excellent power-to-cost ratio, are probably cheaper, smaller, and more effective than 3 MW of batteries.

But let's be clear, it's not a green solution. 99% of the backup energy is being delivered by those diesel generators. The flywheels are just there to bridge the 15 second gap, and the amount of stored energy is negligible. 3 MW flywheel x 15 seconds = 12.5 kWh, or about $2 of electricity at retail.

A lead-acid UPS would at least let you run for ~1 hour on stored grid power before having to turn on the diesel generators [as long you can accept the cost/size limitations mentioned above ...]

It's a perfectly fine solution - flywheels, with their excellent power-to-cost ratio, are probably cheaper, smaller, and more effective than 3 MW of batteries.

But let's be clear, it's not a green solution. 99% of the backup energy is being delivered by those diesel generators. The flywheels are just there to bridge the 15 second gap, and the amount of stored energy is negligible. 3 MW flywheel x 15 seconds = 12.5 kWh, or about $2 of electricity at retail.

A lead-acid UPS would at least let you run for ~1 hour on stored grid power before having to turn on the diesel generators [as long you can accept the cost/size limitations mentioned above ...]

You also have to remember that a power outage isn't likely to be common.

Michigan isn't exactly disaster prone, and while we do have our occasional outage they are typically short lived.

Government Motors has to be politically correct and promote the greenery, professed by its political masters...

Yeah, it's totally because Obama told them to do it and not because it's more energy and cost efficient. To show their independence, they should make the whole thing run on coal and tar, shipped from the furthest reaches of the world. You know, like all those tech giants do! Apple, Google, Microsoft, we all know from reading Ars that these private industry pros never bother with things like energy efficiency or environmental considerations!

So, you are saying this is penny pinching, plain and simple? Why are then cost cutting measures being sold as "hyper-green", if not to pander to the political overlords and the environmentalist movement that funds the overlords?

Anyhow, why are you using the "energy and cost efficient" phrase? Isn't "cost efficiency" enough? Or does a mostly money losing corporation have to follow other goals, apart from making money?

The stored momentum in the flywheels can turn an emergency generator in order to provide power for up to 15 seconds while the data center's two giant 5,800 horsepower diesel generators come online. There are also two 6,400-gallon diesel fuel tanks—enough for the generators to produce three megawatts of power for up to 48 hours."

"Pound", "horsepower", "gallon", then MW.

;-)

That's pretty standard US usage. Weight is usually in pounds, internal combustion power is usually measured in horsepower, and fuel is measured in gallons. But electrical power is generally in watts.

Maybe it's time to convert to sane units like the civilized part of the world? Math and comparisons become a lot easier when units make up a system instead of being random with tons of conversion constants thrown in.

OT:Nice data centre. Even nicer to see that they are not doing the idiot solar cells crap (most data centres run at night too).

"For GM, cloud means automated provisioning of virtual servers within its existing computing hardware (which is largely made up of Hewlett-Packard blade servers in HP C7000 enclosures), using tools from HP, IBM, and VMware."

I'm sure a bunch of people at GM considered using OpenCompute as their server building blocks. There is a lot of power and cooling efficiencies (at least from what I've read here on Ars, reported from FB). The standard is open after all and you think GM could have the clout and capacity to work directly with the ODMs to produce a design that is cheaper, uses less power and requires less cooling than traditional HP x86 solutions. I saw from another comment that they were using EDS (part of HP) previously for their IT outsourcing, so some of this I'm sure is they're pretty deeply partnered with HP already and HP is doing everything they can to assure them their solution is the best way to go.

There is part of this I don't understand as I as the article states, GM has unique requirements which perhaps HP helps them meet.

They're designing this system for 20 years, as stated. It seems to me that the x86 server industry is becoming more commodized and designing power and cooling around HP blade systems would be a short term solution. Again, there is probably a good reason, at least for now they're sticking with HP as their HW provider.

It's mind-numbing to think how much money and effor GM has dumped into repeated in/outsourcing of their data center. I used to work at EDS, and if I remember the history correctly it's something like:- built in-house data center- outsourced operations to EDS- outsourced hardware to EDS- bought EDS, including data center- spun off EDS and data center, outsourcing to same- built in-house data center and outsourced operations- outsourced data center and operations- built new in-house data center with in-house operations

There is part of this I don't understand as I as the article states, GM has unique requirements which perhaps HP helps them meet.

They're designing this system for 20 years, as stated. It seems to me that the x86 server industry is becoming more commodized and designing power and cooling around HP blade systems would be a short term solution. Again, there is probably a good reason, at least for now they're sticking with HP as their HW provider.

THe lifecycle of the hardware in GM's data center is on a three-year refresh cycle. GM already had a big investment in HP tools, thanks to the previous dependence on HP EDS. It's expected that there will be blocks of turnover in systems as tech and time goes by.

But also, it's important to remember that they have standard business workloads, and depend on very proven software and hardware configurations—and buy their stuff in bulk. So the OS platforms (Windows Server 2008 R2, SUSE Linux) are well known and tested, and since the core of the data center staff was hired back from HP-EDS they know HP hardware.

Seriously you are changing your lead acid batteries every 3-8 years? The primary ones in my datacenter were installed before 2000 and just load tested out to 97.8%. Proper care and maint can get you years and years of life.